Looking for easy ways to make money online? We’ve compiled our 12 favourite money-making apps into one guide to show you how easy it is to earn a little extra cash from the comfort of your own home.
There are lots of easy and fun ways to earn money using apps on your mobile phone. Though sometimes they get a bad rap, there are plenty of totally legitimate ones that pay real money.
If you want to get paid for your time, opinions and more, keep reading.
Side hustles don’t have to be skilled. Pretty much anyone who owns a smartphone can earn money using the apps in this guide.
And the best part? Many of them don’t even require you to step foot outside your door (we’ll let you know which ones require the least effort as we go).
All of these mobile apps are available to download for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Apps that pay you for surveys and reviews
Fancy getting paid to share your opinion? We’re big fans of surveys at TopCashback – they’re a great way to make cash quickly and with minimal effort.
We have a whole guide dedicated to our favourite online survey sites, but here are a couple of our favourites that have mobile apps.
1. Curious Cat
💰 Payout threshold: £1
💸 Payout method(s): PayPal
👍 Ease of use: 5/5
🏠 Need to leave the house? No
Curious Cat is a fun mobile survey app with an engaging user interface. It’s easy to use and the surveys are generally short.
If you’re the kind of person who’s usually looking at their phone while watching TV, why not answer a few quick questions on Curious Cat instead of doom-scrolling social media?
The app gives you an estimate of how long each survey is likely to take, so you can pick ones to suit you.
The payout threshold for Curious Cat is only £1, which means you’ll be able to cash out your earnings pretty quickly. You will need a valid ID in order to cash out your earnings though.
♥️ We love:
For a survey app, this one is genuinely pretty fun to use. You may also be invited to leave feedback on product concepts, such as swimsuit designs.
💔 We don’t love:
Like all survey apps, they can be a little repetitive and tedious (but then again, isn’t Facebook?). The surveys themselves take place in a browser window rather than the app itself, which can leave you with a lot of tabs to close afterwards.
2. Pureprofile
💰 Payout threshold: £10
💸 Payout method(s): bank transfer
👍 Ease of use: 5/5
🏠 Need to leave the house? No
The Pureprofile app offers a wide range of interesting surveys for you to complete, with a simple and engaging interface and lots of opportunities to earn.
Each survey thumbnail gives an estimation of how long it’ll take to complete, which means you can pick and choose which surveys you do based on how much time you have.
This can also help you weigh up whether the reward for the survey is worth the time it may take to earn it.
Surveys are completed within the Pureprofile app (they won’t open in an external browser window), making it very easy to use.
If you get screened out of a survey, you’ll still be rewarded with 5p for your efforts.
You can also opt to swap your 5p for an entry into their monthly prize draw if you’d rather, which will give you a chance to win cash prizes.
You can cash out your earnings directly to your bank account via the app. Desktop users also have the option to put their earnings towards gift vouchers.
♥️ We love:
Pureprofile rewards pretty well for survey participation, with an app that’s easy to use and surveys that are interesting to complete.
💔 We don’t love:
You do have to wait until you hit £10 before you can cash out, which is 10 times higher than Curious Cat’s payout threshold.
Looking for more survey apps to try? Check out the list below, or have a read of our complete online surveys guide.
📤 Branded Surveys
📱 YouGov
📊 OnePoll
💰 Swagbucks
🐝 Streetbees
🥧 Slicethepie
Apps that pay you to help the planet
Okay, so you might not feel like the ultimate eco-warrior while you’re glued to your phone. But there are a few apps that help you do your bit for the planet while also doing their bit for your bank balance.
There are a range of recycling apps on the market that reward their users with cash, vouchers and store credit every time they recycle their rubbish. Here are our favourite recycling apps.
3. Bower recycling app
💰 Payout threshold: £1.60
💸 Payout method(s): bank transfer
👍 Ease of use: 4/5
🏠 Need to leave the house? No
This has to be one of the easiest ways to make money in this guide. Bower will literally pay you to scan the barcodes on your household recycling, meaning you can earn cash while helping the environment.
The basic scanner function of this app is easy to use, although there are quite a few levels, missions and challenges that are a little complicated. The reward system is also convoluted, with XP (‘Experience Points’) and Coins adding up in different pots, making it hard to see which actions earn you which rewards.
If you’re happy to ignore most of the app’s functions and concentrate on simply scanning your recycling each day, you will see your rewards rack up.
In my first six weeks of using Bower, I earned 140 Coins, which is equivalent to £1.12. Yes, you’re not going to buy a house with it, but £1.12 for scanning what I put in my bin? It’s a no-brainer for me.
♥️ We love:
It really doesn’t get much easier than this one, especially if you’re a dedicated recycler at home anyway. You can help the planet while earning a few pennies too.
💔 We don’t love:
The app itself is very busy and can get quite confusing. After using this app for six weeks, I’m still not entirely sure what actions made up my £1.12 rewards.
4. Boots Recycling
💰 Payout threshold: £5 (500 Boots Advantage Points)
💸 Payout method(s): Boots Advantage Points
👍 Ease of use: 3/5
🏠 Need to leave the house? Yes
Most people who know me know about my obsession with this app. The Boots Advantage scheme is one of the most generous loyalty schemes out there, and their recycling initiative echoes this generosity.
The Boots Recycling scheme is designed to help shoppers dispose of hard-to-recycle products more responsibly.
All you need to do is download the app and scan your empty products there. Once they’ve been approved, you can drop them off at a designated drop-off point at a Boots store.
You’ll receive 500 Boots Advantage Points for every five empty beauty products you recycle (you can drop off as many items as you like, but you can only get rewarded for five items per day). 500 Advantage Points is equal to £5 to spend at Boots, so that’s a fiver you’ll earn for recycling just five bits of rubbish.
However, there is a slight catch – you need to spend £10 in store and scan your recycling voucher within three days of dropping off your items.
That’s not to say this isn’t still a fantastic scheme, though. While Boots sell many things we might consider ‘treat’ purchases, they also have a range of essential items you can buy.
If you need to stock up on household necessities like toothpaste, shower gel, deodorant or baby products, this can be a great way to get a bonus freebie on top.
You can now earn Advantage Points when you recycle blister packs at Boots. Scan five or more empty blister packs and you'll receive 100 Advantage Card Points when you spend £5 in store.
♥️ We love:
This scheme is really generous – you can earn £5 for recycling just five items, and you’ll be helping the planet at the same time.
💔 We don’t love:
If you don’t have a recycling point within a reasonable distance, you won’t be able to take part in this scheme. You also have to spend £10 to unlock the £5 of Advantage Points.
5. recycle:me
💰 Payout threshold: £5
💸 Payout method(s): online LOOKFANTASTIC or Cult Beauty store credit
👍 Ease of use: 4/5
🏠 Need to leave the house? No
THG’s recycle:me scheme is very similar to the Boots recycling scheme, with the key difference being that a courier will pick up your items (or you can send them by post).
Download the recycle:me app, scan your empty products and then arrange your drop-off or free doorstep collection. You can send as many items as you can fit in your box, with a minimum of five items needed to qualify for a reward.
As a thank you, you’ll receive £5 worth of points to spend at either Cult Beauty or LOOKFANTASTIC. You should get your reward within 14 days of THG receiving your items.
♥️ We love:
Unlike the Boots scheme, you don't need to spend anything to unlock your £5 voucher. Anyone can take part using their free doorstep collection service, and they accept most hard-to-recycle beauty products from any brand, making it a great alternative to Boots if you don't have a recycling point near you.
💔 We don’t love:
You receive vouchers rather than cash, which means you're limited to spending your rewards at LOOKFANTASTIC or Cult Beauty. However, each of these sites stocks hundreds of premium brands, so beauty lovers are bound to find something they like.
For more information about what you can and can’t recycle, check out the beauty recycling section of our guide to saving money on skincare and make-up.
Apps that pay you to exercise
Granted, you’ll probably need to leave the house to earn money from the apps in this section. However, the great thing about this is you’ll be getting exercise and fresh air. You can also tie in earning cash with your everyday activities, such as walking the dog or a lunchtime stroll.
6. Biscuit
💰 Payout threshold: £10 (1,000 Biscuits)
💸 Payout method(s): gift vouchers
👍 Ease of use: 3/5
🏠 Need to leave the house? Yes
With the Biscuit app, you can get rewarded for walking your dog. Not only are you keeping yourself active and helping support your dog’s health, but you’ll earn cash rewards in the process.
Every time you log a walk on the Biscuit app, you’ll earn points (these are known as Biscuits). Biscuits can also be earned by completing Wellbeing Badges, such as giving your dog their flea and worm treatments. You can also earn extra points when you refer friends.
Once you’ve downloaded the app, Biscuit will invite you to share some info about your dog, which they’ll then use to set personalised daily and weekly activity goals.
You can exchange Biscuits for shopping vouchers, with a range of retailers like Amazon, Tesco, Dunelm, Just Eat and Deliveroo to choose from. Biscuits can also be used to treat your furry friend – cash out your rewards as a discount voucher for a dog food brand like Tails.com.
Payout for vouchers with cash value starts from £10 (1,000 Biscuits), although you can unlock discount vouchers from as little as 1 Biscuit.
♥️ We love:
There are lots of opportunities to earn Biscuits, and all of them are good for your dog.
💔 We don’t love:
It takes 1,000 Biscuits to reach the point where you can get a voucher with real cash value. Below that, rewards are in the form of free trials and discounts.
7. BetterPoints
💰 Payout threshold: £2
💸 Payout method(s): gift vouchers
👍 Ease of use: 2/5
🏠 Need to leave the house? No
BetterPoints is an exercise-tracking app that allows users to earn rewards for exercising.
While you don’t technically need to leave the house in order to exercise and earn BetterPoints, you might get more out of it if you do. And because it automatically tracks your movement in the background, you can earn points while you’re out and about doing your usual activities.
Your profile will display how many minutes of activity you’ve done and how many calories you’ve burned that week, as well as how much carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide you’ve saved. This helps you track the health benefits of your activities, but also the environmental benefits – it’s a win-win.
You can only earn BetterPoints if you live in certain areas where local authorities and universities have sponsored the BetterPoints app. If you don’t live in one of the following areas, you’ll only be able to earn BetterTickets, which are prize draw entries.
📍 Brighton & Hove
📍 Buckinghamshire
📍 Cardiff University staff and students
📍 East Dunbartonshire
📍 Highlands and Islands area
📍 Dartford
📍 Gravesham
📍 Swanley
📍 Whitnash
📍Ebbsfleet Garden City
📍 Leicestershire
📍 Sussex University staff and students
📍 Newham
📍 Renfrewshire
📍 Sheffield
📍 South Lanarkshire
📍 Southwark
📍 Sunderland
📍 Surrey
📍 York
📍 Kenilworth
📍 Hounslow
📍 Leamington Spa
📍 Warwick
If you do live in one of the above areas, reaching around 100 BetterPoints will unlock a range of discounts, such as 20% off at Nike. However, you’ll need to reach 2,000 BetterPoints before you unlock any money-off vouchers.
Once you hit 2,000 BetterPoints, you can convert your points into a £2 voucher, with options including Currys, Argos and Tesco. The more points you save, the higher the gift voucher value you can earn. For example, 20,000 BetterPoints could get you a £20 voucher to spend somewhere like Morrisons, IKEA or Uber.
♥️ We love:
The primary purpose of this app is to encourage users to lead healthier lifestyles that are kinder to the planet, and you can earn money while doing this.
💔 We don’t love:
Only people living in certain areas can earn real cash on the BetterPoints app, and they don’t make this very clear on their website.
Having an app track your movements is a huge drain on your phone’s battery, and you can’t sync it with a FitBit or Smartwatch. I used this app for about a week before removing the tracking permissions as my phone (an iPhone 16 that’s under a year old) kept needing to be recharged throughout the day.
Apps that help you sell things
If you fancy having a clear-out and earning some cash in the process, there are plenty of easy-to-use apps that can help. As there are so many similar apps on the market, we’ve highlighted a few of our favourites. If you’re after a full list, you can find more apps bullet-pointed throughout this section.
8. World of Books
💰 Payout threshold: £5 or 10 items
💸 Payout method(s): bank transfer, PayPal or cheque
👍 Ease of use: 4/5
🏠 Need to leave the house? Yes, unless your box weighs 9kg+
Previously known as Ziffit, World of Books is our favourite selling app. They’ll pay you for your old books (fiction, non-fiction, or textbooks), as well as any unwanted DVDs, CDs and video games you may have.
Just download the Sell Books With World of Books app and use the barcode reader to scan your items and get an instant price.
You can complete your order once the combined price offered for your items hits £5, or you’ve scanned 10 qualifying items.
Then all you need is a suitable cardboard box to package your items in (you don’t even need to print a postage label!).
You can drop your package off at your nearest 24/7 InPost locker. If your box of books weighs more than 9kg, you can get it picked up for free by a courier.
9kg isn't as heavy as you might think. If the average hardback weighs around 0.5kg and the average paperback around 0.3kg, your box will likely reach around 9kg if it contains 18 hardbacks or 30 paperbacks.
One of our favourite things about World of Books (also known as Wob) is that they support authors, while also helping reduce the number of books going to landfill. Any authors who are members of the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society are given royalties for any sales of their books through Wob.
They're also on TopCashback, so you can earn cashback on top of the money you’ll make.
♥️ We love:
Book-selling apps are really easy to use in general, although Wob stands out from the rest for a few reasons. You don’t need to print a label to use their InPost locker drop-off, which makes the postage process really easy. They also pay authors a royalty for every book sold, which is a huge plus.
💔 We don’t love:
As with all book-buying apps, you’ll only get a small amount of money per book. In my most recent trade-in with Wob, I earned £6.59 for 12 items. The lowest price I got for a book was 10p and the highest price was £1.20. I have been paid £6 for an old hardback book in the past though, which was a nice surprise.
If you’re looking for more sites where you can sell books, DVDs, CDs and games, we’ve got a book-selling guide and a DVD-selling guide that’ll give you all the info you need.
Other popular book-selling apps include:
🎵 musicMagpie
💰 Sell it Back
📚 We Buy Books
⚡ Zapper
Selling your old mobile phone? You can now get paid for your old mobile through TopCashback’s new Sell Your Phone feature.
9. Vinted
💰 Payout threshold: N/A
💸 Payout method(s): bank transfer or Vinted credit
👍 Ease of use: 3/5
🏠 Need to leave the house? Yes
We’re big fans of the Vinted app; in fact, we’ve got an entire guide on how to sell clothes on Vinted. It’s easy to use and there are no seller fees, so you can earn cash for unwanted items quickly and cheaply.
To get started, just download the free Vinted app to your mobile and set up your account by filling out a few personal details.
You can then start listing your old clothes for free. You’ll need to enter a few details about the items, such as the size, condition and brand. You can upload up to 20 photos per listing, so try to include all angles (including any labels or defects the piece might have).
Vinted also allow sellers to promote their listings with Bumps and Wardrobe Spotlights, for an extra fee.
Once one of your listings sells, you’ll need to package it up and send it via the postage method selected by the buyer (you can decide which postage options are available to your buyers in your settings).
Some options come with free courier collection, so there may be circumstances where you don’t need to leave your house in order to complete a sale. This will depend on which delivery options you allow and what services are available in your local area.
♥️ We love:
As they don’t charge any seller fees, you can earn a decent amount of money selling clothes on Vinted, especially if you have any designer clothing to sell, or items with the tags on.
💔 We don’t love:
This method of making money is a little more involved than most others in this guide. You’ll need to photograph your items and list each one manually, message buyers directly and negotiate on price, then package up and post your items when they sell.
Other great apps for selling preloved clothes include:
👗 Depop
👕 eBay
👡 Thrift+
Apps that reward you for shopping
Okay, so we left this section until last because you do admittedly have to spend money in order to earn money with these apps. However, the ones we’ve highlighted here will give you money back when you buy essentials like groceries, so we think they’re still well worth including.
10. TopCashback app
💰 Payout threshold: N/A
💸 Payout method(s): bank transfer, PayPal or gift cards
👍 Ease of use: 5/5
🏠 Need to leave the house? No
It’s only right that in our guide to the best money-making apps, we include our own. We may be biased, but we’re also passionate about helping our members save money, and the TopCashback app offers a genuinely great way to do it.
So, how does cashback work? Every time you shop with one of our retailers via the links on our site, the retailer pays us a commission for sending you over to them.
Because we’re a generous bunch, we’ll give you 100% of that commission back, in the form of cashback. We have over 6,000 different brands on our site, from eBay to Morrisons, so you can earn money back on a wide range of home essentials.
Once your cashback has been approved and becomes payable, you’ll be able to withdraw it directly to your bank or PayPal account, or you can opt for a gift card via Reward Wallet and earn a cashback bonus on top of your cashback.
To find out more about how it all works, and how to maximise your earnings, check out our guide to making the most of TopCashback.
There are also often a range of free cashback offers available, which means you can earn real money with these retailers without spending a penny. One of our favourite free cashback offers is our Experian deal, where you can get as much as £9 free cashback* just for setting up a free Experian account and checking your credit score.
* Cashback rates correct at the time of writing
♥️ We love:
It’s free to join TopCashback and we’ll give you 100% of the commission retailers give us when you shop via our site.
💔 We don’t love:
Other than the fact you’ll kick yourself if you miss our £15 cashback sign-up bonus offer…
You can think of cashback like a handy bit of bonus money. Cashback isn’t a guarantee, and using discount codes not approved by us can mean your cashback doesn't get approved.
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11. CheckoutSmart
💰 Payout threshold: £20 (to avoid a transaction fee)
💸 Payout method(s): bank transfer or PayPal
👍 Ease of use: 4/5
🏠 Need to leave the house? No
With the CheckoutSmart shopping app, you can submit receipts from your grocery shop and get money back when you purchase certain items. Sometimes this will be a portion of the cost of the item, while other times you can claim the total cost of the item back (which means you’re getting it for free).
Filter the list of deals to see those specific to supermarkets you shop at, and tap Save next to any you like the look of.
Your next step is to buy the products in your saved deals, which you can do in store, or as part of an online shop. If you’re shopping in store, make sure you keep hold of your receipt because you’ll need to upload a photo of it during the claim process.
You can cash out your money at any time, although payments under £20 will incur a 5% transfer fee.
I was impressed with how quickly claims get approved on CheckoutSmart. I claimed £2 back on a four-pack of Twinings sparkling tea and it was accepted within the hour. I’ve since made another claim worth £1.60 so my balance is at £3.60, although I’m waiting to get to £20 before I cash out.
♥️ We love:
You can get money back on essential items like teabags and squash (...and gin). You also technically don’t need to leave the house to earn money from this app as you can submit digital receipts if you do your grocery shopping online.
💔 We don’t love:
Although there are lots of supermarkets and other shops listed on CheckoutSmart, it’s only usually the bigger supermarkets that have active deals. For example, Just Eat, Boots, Pets at Home and Savers are all listed, but I’ve never seen offers for any of these.
12. Airtime
💰 Payout threshold: £10
💸 Payout method(s): credit off your mobile bill
👍 Ease of use: 4/5
🏠 Need to leave the house? No
The Airtime rewards app uses open banking to track the purchases you make with your debit and/or credit card.
This means that once you’ve linked your card, you don’t have to do anything extra in order to make quick money with Airtime, making it the definition of a passive income.
The app tracks your spending online and in store at a wide range of retailers, including ASOS, Boots, Tesco and Aldi. Your cashback accumulates in your account and can be redeemed against your mobile phone bill once you reach £10 or more.
Airtime will send your credit directly to your mobile phone provider, so it’ll be automatically deducted from your next mobile bill.
You can add multiple cards to your Airtime account, maximising your chances of earning some decent cashback. One thing to watch out for is that some retailers are in-store or online only, so make sure you bear that in mind when you shop.
I’ve always struggled with tracking on my Airtime account, so usually have to manually upload my receipts to claim my money back. My partner has had better luck with his tracking – our best reward to date was £16 cashback on our anniversary dinner at Gaucho.
♥️ We love:
Airtime is incredibly easy to use as it tracks your spending using open banking and adds cashback to your account automatically.
💔 We don’t love:
If you have tracking issues, you can easily miss out on rewards. You can also only redeem your rewards against your mobile bill, and not all mobile providers accept Airtime as payment.
Start cashing in with money-making apps today
Whether you’re answering survey questions or recycling your rubbish, it can be easy to earn quick cash from the comfort of home.
It doesn’t have to be hard work to earn extra money. There’s a side hustle to suit every lifestyle – it can be as simple as walking the dog, clearing out your wardrobe, or sharing your opinion.
If you’ve got a mobile phone and a few minutes to spare, why not switch doom-scrolling for a chance to earn quick cash? You could download a few different apps covered in this guide, give them a go and see which works best for you.
It might not pay for your next holiday, but it could certainly cover a few coffees down the line. So, why not give some of these apps a go and see how much you can earn?
Have you earned any cash from money-making apps? Share your top tips in the comments and let’s keep the conversation going.